* Chicago QB Jim Harbaugh matched a 28-year-old club record of 13 straight completions. The record was set by Rudy Bukich over two games in 1964.

* Yesterday's game between Chicago and Green Bay was the 144th meeting between the Bears and the Packers, a streak that includes the first divisional playoff in NFL history. The Bears beat the Packers, 33-14, in Wrigley Field in 1941.

The intensity of the rivalry is underscored by the average point differential in its 72-year history, 2.4.

* Washington is 11-2 at domed stadiums under Joe Gibbs, including 4-0 at the Metrodome. The Vikings have lost six straight games to the Redskins, including two in the playoffs.

They said it

* "Cripes, seven shots and we don't get it in." Phoenix coach Joe Bugel, after a momentous goal-line stand by the Eagles.

* "When they started booing him, the way I see it, he may start losing his concentration and start calling crazy plays or let something crazy happen." Giants LB Pepper Johnson, on the fan reaction to coach Ray Handley.

* "It was a lousy football game. There won't be any excuses from the team and none from me." Tampa Bay coach Sam Wyche, after losing to the Detroit Lions.

* "I had to buy 55 tickets. My whole family is here." Washington kicker Chip Lohmiller, a former University of Minnesota star and a native of Woodbury, Minn., after the Redskins played the Vikings in the Metrodome.

* "It was just a good win for us. A lot of boys grew up today and became men. We really needed this win in this organization." San Diego's Gil Byrd, after intercepting John Elway twice in a win over Denver.

* "I'm not into nostalgia. But I'm not without memories." Bill Parcells, former Giants coach who returned to the Meadowlands for the first time as a broadcaster.

* "We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. If you keep doing that enough, pretty soon you have no toes left." New York QB Jeff Hostetler commenting on the Giants' slow start offensively against Seattle.

Memories pleasant and painful

New York Giants fans hoping for the return of Bill Parcells to Giants Stadium got their wish, but it's not exactly what they had in mind.

For the first time since leaving New York to become an NBC analyst, Parcells returned to the Meadowlands to provide color commentary on the team he led to two Super Bowl championships.

After the game, Parcells said his health was excellent and there was a chance he might return to the coaching ranks.

"I'm not counting anything out," Parcells said. "I'm not ready to say anything about it. I'm not saying I will and I'm not

saying I won't. If that's a hedge, that's a hedge."

When asked to reflect on his lasting memories, he said: "I see the smiling faces when they won championships. That's what I remember most. The counter to that is you remember the pain and suffering of a lot of these kids that nobody saw. Karl Nelson. And sitting with Mark Bavaro and he's crying about his knee. And Lawrence Taylor writhing in pain on the training table after he pulled a muscle against Philadelphia [catching Randall Cunningham]. And he looked up and said, 'I can still do it, can't I?' "

New York fans . . . gotta love 'em

New York Giants fans took their displeasure with Ray Handley to a uniquely nasty level, even as the Giants were defeating the Seattle Seahawks.

They serenaded the Giants' besieged head coach -- a big fan of the Atlanta Braves -- to the tune of the Braves' tomahawk chop.

"Raaaay, Must Go-oh-oh. Raaaay, Must Go-oh-oh."

"You look at him in the face and you start to wonder," LB Pepper Johnson said. " 'What is he thinking? Is it weighing on him heavily?' He's the commander of the vessel. If he goes down, we all go down. And I'm not ready to go down yet."